The Official Piggy Lover Thread!

[MileMarkerZero]

Whoops. I thought this was a thread for Fayetteville residents...or stuffed frogs...

[eupher61]

It ain't easy being green, from the bare brass my Piggy had.

I've said it before, almost 20 years and I miss it more and more every gig.

[J.c. Sherman]

Just sold mine, but I will miss it. It's a great do-all horn. In many ways, I think it may be one of - if not THE best designed tubas ever. Not always put together perfectly... but very good design. Mine had a high register my F would be proud of... And they're plenty big for most work. If more came over to the US with 5 valves, I bet they'd be much more popular.

J.c.S.

[Roger Lewis]

I love my piggy and will never part with it. Won Tanglewood on it so it doesn't suck. The reason you don't see a lot of these with 5th valves coming in is that the addition of the 5th valve sometimes turns a great horn into crap.

Just my $0.02

Roger

[Mwtuba32]

I am the proud new owner of the only 5 valve piggy that I have ever seen. I absolutely love it. I have played better tubas, but the piggy holds it's own against any thing in its respective class.

[artuba]

Now I've heard of three 5-valve Piggy's. I own one and have heard of one other that was hanging around the Memphis area the last I heard, but that was 3-4 years ago. I must say, the 5th valve caused me to be a little cautious at first because I've heard some horror stories about adding valves and ultimately ruining horns, but this horn has seemed to only benefit from the addition.

[Mwtuba32]

i have a difficult time deciding if my piggy sounds like a bass or contra bass tuba..which is usually not a bad thing..the piggy is truly a flexible tuba.

[jonesbrass]

The reason you don't see a lot of these with 5th valves coming in is that the addition of the 5th valve sometimes turns a great horn into crap.

I think the other reason is that Cerveny's upcharge for the 5th valve is very high when compared to Miraphone or other rotary tubas. I believe the Cerveny's have been marketed to the lower end of the pro-horn spectrum, and that upcharge may be a bit of a discouragement to that segment of the market.

Here's an extension of piggy love: I believe that Cerveny has it down pat when it comes to making large-sounding, free-blowing, large-bore, roughly 3/4 sized "piggy wrap" horns. The Baby Arion F is another example of their mastery of this type of horn.



Let's hear it for Cerveny's piggy design and construction mastery!

[Mwtuba32]

What a cute little piggy.

[skeath]

I'm taking a long look at a used Piggy 603. I won't have a chance to try it out, so I'm wondering about the experiences others have had with intonation? This is a 4-valve, which fits my needs exactly right now.

[skeath]

Bump

[Donn]

You might find a few comments about intonation, in other threads in the archives of this forum. My impression is that a piggy in the poke, so to speak, poses a certain risk - it isn't as famous for consistency as for example the Miraphone 186 - but the odds are on your side, if that makes you feel any better.

I'm curious about large bores in small tubas. In my limited experience, a smaller bore - relative to the bell size - seems to me to favor a sweeter, richer sound, I suppose in the sense of developing a fuller set of upper harmonics. But maybe that's because I never played one of these particular Cervenys?

[Craig Garner]

I got my piggy in 1981. I have used it to play EVERYTHING. It's big enough for most symphony work, certainly big enough for band work, german bands, dixie, jazz and I think it is one of the best horns for chamber music. I do a lot of brass quintet work and I think it is the perfect horn for quintet. Warm sound, not too big and not too small....blends well with the trombone and horn.

Even though it sounds like the "new" piggy's are great horns, I'm keepin' my old piggy.

[skeath]

OK, I just bought that Piggy from Dillon's. Matt says it is better than average. I'll post a report when it comes in. Hope I like it!


Sandy Keathley

[k001k47]

I love how short the action was on those valve linkages of my old 5 valve piggy... they were a little bit of a pain to maintain sometimes, though.
I miss the piggy, but am really liking the Harmonia F.
Anyone have an older piggy they'd let go for around 2.5k?

[k001k47]

You missed out dude-
viewtopic.php?f=4&t=30065&hilit=piggy" target="_blank" target="_blank

That piggy was for sale when I had my other piggy...

[skeath]

You missed out dude-
viewtopic.php?f=4&t=30065&hilit=piggy

I wasn't looking then, so it's a moot point.

SK